


Outsider Chronicles: Break the Cycle

by DisLexic



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow, Under Night In-Birth (Video Game)
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22137781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisLexic/pseuds/DisLexic
Summary: Getting reborn into the world of Worm was...not a pleasant surprise. Being born in Brockton Bay was even worse. I have to admit, I wasn't really expecting to live out my entire life. Then, on a trip out to get milk one night, I found myself meeting a girl with rabbit ears and my life got complicated.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, well, this is an...interesting idea. Its one where the fact the character being an Outsider is actually intrinsic to the plot, as opposed to the jumping off point for the changes. Its also a crossover with a fandom I'm not entirely familiar with yet, so if your familiar with it, please be gentle if I get something wrong. I'll be keeping it to myself for now though. Oh, just a heads up, if you don't like characters like Rachel Alucard, I strongly suggest you avoid this one. Its not actually a crossover with Blazblue, but Rabbit is very much the inspiration for one of the characters in this. Enjoy!

There are many different versions of Earth. The concept of the Multiverse is one that most people are at least partly aware of and a number of fictional settings use the concept as a core part of their narrative. However, for every world where Humanity rules, there are an infinite number where they didn't. On one such world, surrounded by colourful, rose-like flowers, lies a small house, inhabited by a woman who, despite her young appearance, was older than anyone on Earth, with the possible exception of the golden monster masquerading as a Hero.

This world served as a safe space of sorts, a place where she could be herself and allow the weight of the years and the masks she wore to fade away. A place where she could enjoy simpler things, such as cultivating her garden or a simple cup of tea. Of course, sometimes the outside world intruded upon this silent garden world, reminding the girl just what awaited her outside her home.

The dark haired girl paused as her power poked her and frowned softly as she glanced at the clock sat beside her teapot.

"I see, so it is that time again, is it?" she mused.

She sighed and sat up straight, staring straight ahead as her pupil expanded to fill her entire eye. Had anyone else been there, they would have seen the rather bizarre sight of what appeared to be a school corridor reflected in the now black orb rather than the strange flowers that called this world home.

"Once again, the curtain rises on the final act," said the girl as she watched a tall, thin girl open her locker and vomit as the stench hit her, "How many times has it been now? I already know the steps of this dance by heart."

She sighed and toyed with the idea of looking away. Its not like she'd learn anything new from this, even with the differences she'd noted in this timeline whos source she couldn't locate. However, the small spark of hope and compassion that still resided in her otherwise cold heart that still drove her to find a way to end this endless loop compelled her to keep watching. The poor girl deserved to have her suffering acknowledged by someone after all.

The young looking girl sipped her tea as she watched, her lip curling to reveal sharp fangs at the reminder of just how casually cruel some Humans could be. Alas, she already knew that attempting to do anything about this was a waste of time. She had done it before and, no matter how much it improved Taylor Hebert's life, the end result was still the same. So long as she was alone, she would continue to suffer.

Then, just as the opening act came to its end, an unexpected twist caught the jaded immortal by surprise as a new player entered the stage. She watched with interest as someone she had never seen before, not in any of the many cycles she had experienced, shoved his way through the crowd and opened the locker, catching the much taller girl as she tumbled out and ignoring the anger of the shadow girl completely as he checked Hebert over.

Feeling curious for the first time in what felt like forever, the girl looked closer at the boy. He didn't look like much, a short, blonde boy, with the only distinguishing feature being his startling green eyes. Then, she activated her power and got the shock of her life as she discovered that, unlike everyone around him, his life on Earth Bet only extended back to the moment of his birth. In other words, he had not existed until this iteration of the Cycle and was a completely new variable added to what was supposed to be a closed system.

"Well now, aren't you an interesting little thing," she murmured, "I think I need to take a closer look at this one."

Her eyes returned to their normal slitted red as she got to her feet and raised her head slightly.

"Custodian, please inform the Doctor that I shall be indisposed for an unknown amount of time," she said.

"Of course Miss Fortuna," said a soft, whispy voice from seemingly nowhere.

"Door to Brockton Bay," said the girl and vanished through the glowing portal that appeared before her.

* * *

You know, there are only so many ways life can screw you over. Ending abruptly at the hands of a drunk driver is one of them. Somehow getting you reborn into a world full of monsters and crazy people with superpowers is another. Yeah, I'm not entirely sure how, but I'd somehow ended up getting reborn into the world of Worm. Not fun

Oh for fucks sake, now I know someones messing with me! It had been three years since my rebirth and my Parents had for some reason decided to have another kid. Why, I don't know considering I could tell that cracks were starting to form in their relationship, but there's not much a three year old toddler could do. Besides, maybe they were thinking the baby girl would help fix things up. I didn't think that was likely, but then again, I'd never had kids. For all I know, she could fix things between Mum and Dad. I have my doubts though. Why? Well, I probably should have seen it coming, but my new baby sister was named Missy. Yeesh, this is gonna be...messy.

I was completely correct. As it turned out, despite my wishful thinking, having a big brother did absolutely fuck all to prevent Missy from Triggering. Honestly, I'm not sure I could have done anything to prevent it considering our Parents were arguing practically every day by this point and any attempts to try and mediate the situation only made things worse. Still, I was rather annoyed with myself when Vista appeared as a member of the Wards a few weeks after Missy turned 11. I also wasn't best pleased that no one had thought to inform me that my sister was running around fighting villains, but I guess I was deemed to be in the 'doesn't need to know' column.

Still, I didn't let that distract me from my goals. I might not have any powers and I certainly didn't have any intention of going in search of them, but that didn't mean I couldn't try to help people. With that in mind, I was aiming high with the hopes of getting into medicine. With any luck, I might even be able to help patch up my sister in the future. Or, failing that, help save some lives and make the world a slightly better place.

That said, I wasn't completely helpless. Actually, I wasn't helpless at all. Why? Well, my Grandfather was a former member of the Special forces from before Capes were a thing and made it a point to ensure that both myself and my sister were able to keep ourselves safe in a city that had basically gone to the dogs. As a result, the pair of us were a lot stronger and quicker than our slight builds suggested, even before Missy got extra training from the PRT. He trained us in hand to hand, knife fighting and even how to use some of the guns that made up his rather impressive collection, much to our Mothers horror, although she did calm down once Grandpa calmly pointed out his reasoning.

* * *

Anyway, leaving aside my skills, I fortunately never had to use them. While we did live in Empire territory, a family of blondes didn't really have much to worry about on that front, although I was glad to have the skills once I got into Highschool and Dad insisted on sending me to Winslow, despite the fact I had the grades for Arcadia easily. Why? Because the man was stubborn as a bull and refused to listen to reason or arguments once he put his mind to something and he had attended Winslow back before it had become the Gangs main recruiting ground. That particular trait was the main reason why he and my Mother were constantly at each other's throats, although I can hardly say Mom was any better in keeping the peace.

So yeah, Winslow. What can I say about it that hasn't already been said? No, really, it really is as bad as depicted in practically every Worm story ever. In my first month there, there was two gang fights in the cafeteria, one stabbing and three gun scares. I ended up asking Grandpa for a knife, which he handed over without complaint or question. I did know how to use it after all.

Leaving aside the nessesaty of being armed at fucking school, lets take a look at the other thing that Winslow had, namely Taylor Hebert. She was...well, pretty much like you'd expect. Shy, sad and not really willing to interact with anyone. Can't really blame her to be honest. I did what I could, but the official apathy was strong and Sophia and her band of sociopaths just wouldn't quit. It certainly didn't help that I had my own pest in the form of a foul mouthed lunatic by the name of Carmine who had decided that he really didn't like me and kept trying to pick fights. When he wasn't suspended and even bothered to show up at school at least.

For some odd reason, that reminded me of something, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was.

On the subject of sociopaths, I had originally planned to get some evidence of Sophia's misdeeds and splash it all over the internet where the PRT would (hopefully) see it and deal with her, but as it turned out, that was a waste of time. Not because the PRT are useless and more interested in PR, but because Sophia somehow managed to avoid getting press ganged. Gangsters still showed up with bolt wounds on occasion, but never to the point of crossing that line that tipped Sophia from violent vigilante into full on Villain. I have no doubt that the PRT would prefer her to be off the street, but she hadn't taken that extra step.

That said, the fact that the school was letting Hess and Barnes get away with what they did without Sophia's handler leaning on them was all kinds of fucked up.

Wondering why I didn't mention Madison? Well, that would be because she'd disappeared. A few months into the school year, Madison had collapsed and ended up being taken to hospital. A few days later, she vanished from her room, leaving nothing but a note and some very large gouges in the window ledge that looked uncomfortably like claw marks. All very mysterious and sad, but I was just glad that I didn't have to deal with three idiots giving Taylor a hard time. Well, at first. Then I remembered that the Bitches Three had a whole coven of other bitches to draw from to round out the number.

Whatever the case, I at least managed to keep Taylor from suffering too much in the Locker and, if Sophia's lack of keeling over was anything to go by, even managed to keep her from Triggering. I somehow doubted that anything much would come from that from above, but at least Taylor wouldn't have to suffer to much more and would hopefully start to trust me. And no, I'm not going into detail about the Locker.

Of course, I really should have known that something strange would happen today, but in my defence, I didn't really expect my life to run on story book logic.

With the inevitable circus that surrounded the Locker incident over and the school shut early for decontamination (which I really, REALLY hope they did properly), so I got to enjoy an extra day at home with my new batch of games I got as birthday/Christmas gifts (incidentally, being born on the 26th of December makes things so much cheaper for my relatives. They only have to get me one sat of gifts per year after all. On the down side, only one set of presents per year. Bummer) and have fun annoying my sister by waving the extra free day in her face. It was well worth getting jumped on, even if she did make me play Mario Cart with her as an apology and I suck at that game.

* * *

I'd just managed to convince Missy to switch the game to something I was a little better at when Mom poked her head around the door.

"Hey Noel, do you mind nipping down the shops to grab some milk and coffee?" she asked, "It looks like your Father has used the last of both and hasn't bothered to tell me."

I rolled my eyes at the venom in the word 'Father' and the latest example of childish sniping between the two supposed adults, but rolled off the sofa and sprang to my feet.

"Sure thing, let me just grab my coat," I said.

I did just that and accepted the note Mom handed me as I headed out the door. It being the middle of winter, night had fallen and it was more than a little chilly. Normally, going out after dark in a place like Brockton Bay would be a terrible idea, but our neighbourhood was one of the safer ones and the full moon, hanging low and bright in the sky, threw out more than enough light along with the street lamps that I could see easily. Plus, I had my knife and I wasn't going far so I should be fine.

Of course, I didn't exactly account for literal monsters in that assessment. Well, I guess I did, just not in the way I should have.

I was on my way back from the shop, bag containing the groceries swinging idly from my arm, when it happened. The first indication that something was off was when things suddenly got very quiet. Since Brockton is rather quiet at night for a city (when things aren't exploding at least), I didn't notice it at first, but it didn't take me long to realize that something was stalking me. I slowed down, reaching into my jacket and taking hold of my knife as I rounded a corner and stopped.

For a moment, I stood still, waiting for whoever was following me to round the corner. After a couple of moments, I relaxed slightly when no one appeared.

"Huh, guess I was imagining i…HOLY FUCK!"

I jumped about a foot in the air as something small, black and very fast shot out of the darkness and sank shadowy fangs into my leg. My knife shot down, biting deep into shadowy flesh, before I wrenched the creature off and stomped down hard, feeling whatever it was squash under my heavy boot and dissipate into shadows.

"What...the...fuck...was...that?!" I gasped, feeling rather out of breath from the fright and sudden pain.

I pulled my trouser leg up and stared at the strange looking wound that seemed to be leaking some kind of purple mist and was rather large considering the size of the creature that bit me.

"Oh hell, that can't be good," I said, "Was that some kind of Parahuman pow…errrrrr…"

The world began to spin, making me stumble and slump against the wall next to me. I could feel a strange, icy heat flowing through me from the bite, almost as if something had entered when the thing had bit me.

"D-did that thing p-poison me?" I slurred, "I think I'm gonna…"

My vision started to darken as my muscles went limp, leaving me to slide down the wall and land in a heap. By this point, I was almost completely numb and could hear nothing but my heart pounding in my ears. Then, just as I was about to pass out, a pair of black heeled boots landed in front of me.

"Well, this won't do at all," said a haughty, female voice from above me, "I can't have the only interesting thing I've seen this Cycle die like a dog out here in the cold."

I shifted my eyes, the only thing I could still move, and looked up at the girl stood in front of me. Thanks to my failing vision and the moon behind her, all I could see was a pair of black pigtails and what appeared to be rabbit ears. The figure bent down and I caught a flash of red eyes that almost seemed to glow in the night.

"Time to go little Dog," she said, "You will not die here if I can help it."

She reached for me as I slipped into darkness.

There are many different versions of Earth. The concept of the Multiverse is one that most people are at least partly aware of and a number of fictional settings use the concept as a core part of their narrative. However, for every world where Humanity rules, there are an infinite number where they didn't. On one such world, surrounded by colourful, rose-like flowers, lies a small house, inhabited by a woman who, despite her young appearance, was older than anyone on Earth, with the possible exception of the golden monster masquerading as a Hero.

This world served as a safe space of sorts, a place where she could be herself and allow the weight of the years and the masks she wore to fade away. A place where she could enjoy simpler things, such as cultivating her garden or a simple cup of tea. Of course, sometimes the outside world intruded upon this silent garden world, reminding the girl just what awaited her outside her home.

The dark haired girl paused as her power poked her and frowned softly as she glanced at the clock sat beside her teapot.

"I see, so it is that time again, is it?" she mused.

She sighed and sat up straight, staring straight ahead as her pupil expanded to fill her entire eye. Had anyone else been there, they would have seen the rather bizarre sight of what appeared to be a school corridor reflected in the now black orb rather than the strange flowers that called this world home.

"Once again, the curtain rises on the final act," said the girl as she watched a tall, thin girl open her locker and vomit as the stench hit her, "How many times has it been now? I already know the steps of this dance by heart."

She sighed and toyed with the idea of looking away. Its not like she'd learn anything new from this, even with the differences she'd noted in this timeline whos source she couldn't locate. However, the small spark of hope and compassion that still resided in her otherwise cold heart that still drove her to find a way to end this endless loop compelled her to keep watching. The poor girl deserved to have her suffering acknowledged by someone after all.

The young looking girl sipped her tea as she watched, her lip curling to reveal sharp fangs at the reminder of just how casually cruel some Humans could be. Alas, she already knew that attempting to do anything about this was a waste of time. She had done it before and, no matter how much it improved Taylor Hebert's life, the end result was still the same. So long as she was alone, she would continue to suffer.

Then, just as the opening act came to its end, an unexpected twist caught the jaded immortal by surprise as a new player entered the stage. She watched with interest as someone she had never seen before, not in any of the many cycles she had experienced, shoved his way through the crowd and opened the locker, catching the much taller girl as she tumbled out and ignoring the anger of the shadow girl completely as he checked Hebert over.

Feeling curious for the first time in what felt like forever, the girl looked closer at the boy. He didn't look like much, a short, blonde boy, with the only distinguishing feature being his startling green eyes. Then, she activated her power and got the shock of her life as she discovered that, unlike everyone around him, his life on Earth Bet only extended back to the moment of his birth. In other words, he had not existed until this iteration of the Cycle and was a completely new variable added to what was supposed to be a closed system.

"Well now, aren't you an interesting little thing," she murmured, "I think I need to take a closer look at this one."

Her eyes returned to their normal slitted red as she got to her feet and raised her head slightly.

"Custodian, please inform the Doctor that I shall be indisposed for an unknown amount of time," she said.

"Of course Miss Fortuna," said a soft, whispy voice from seemingly nowhere.

"Door to Brockton Bay," said the girl and vanished through the glowing portal that appeared before her.

* * *

You know, there are only so many ways life can screw you over. Ending abruptly at the hands of a drunk driver is one of them. Somehow getting you reborn into a world full of monsters and crazy people with superpowers is another. Yeah, I'm not entirely sure how, but I'd somehow ended up getting reborn into the world of Worm. Not fun

Oh for fucks sake, now I know someones messing with me! It had been three years since my rebirth and my Parents had for some reason decided to have another kid. Why, I don't know considering I could tell that cracks were starting to form in their relationship, but there's not much a three year old toddler could do. Besides, maybe they were thinking the baby girl would help fix things up. I didn't think that was likely, but then again, I'd never had kids. For all I know, she could fix things between Mum and Dad. I have my doubts though. Why? Well, I probably should have seen it coming, but my new baby sister was named Missy. Yeesh, this is gonna be...messy.

I was completely correct. As it turned out, despite my wishful thinking, having a big brother did absolutely fuck all to prevent Missy from Triggering. Honestly, I'm not sure I could have done anything to prevent it considering our Parents were arguing practically every day by this point and any attempts to try and mediate the situation only made things worse. Still, I was rather annoyed with myself when Vista appeared as a member of the Wards a few weeks after Missy turned 11. I also wasn't best pleased that no one had thought to inform me that my sister was running around fighting villains, but I guess I was deemed to be in the 'doesn't need to know' column.

Still, I didn't let that distract me from my goals. I might not have any powers and I certainly didn't have any intention of going in search of them, but that didn't mean I couldn't try to help people. With that in mind, I was aiming high with the hopes of getting into medicine. With any luck, I might even be able to help patch up my sister in the future. Or, failing that, help save some lives and make the world a slightly better place.

That said, I wasn't completely helpless. Actually, I wasn't helpless at all. Why? Well, my Grandfather was a former member of the Special forces from before Capes were a thing and made it a point to ensure that both myself and my sister were able to keep ourselves safe in a city that had basically gone to the dogs. As a result, the pair of us were a lot stronger and quicker than our slight builds suggested, even before Missy got extra training from the PRT. He trained us in hand to hand, knife fighting and even how to use some of the guns that made up his rather impressive collection, much to our Mothers horror, although she did calm down once Grandpa calmly pointed out his reasoning.

* * *

Anyway, leaving aside my skills, I fortunately never had to use them. While we did live in Empire territory, a family of blondes didn't really have much to worry about on that front, although I was glad to have the skills once I got into Highschool and Dad insisted on sending me to Winslow, despite the fact I had the grades for Arcadia easily. Why? Because the man was stubborn as a bull and refused to listen to reason or arguments once he put his mind to something and he had attended Winslow back before it had become the Gangs main recruiting ground. That particular trait was the main reason why he and my Mother were constantly at each other's throats, although I can hardly say Mom was any better in keeping the peace.

So yeah, Winslow. What can I say about it that hasn't already been said? No, really, it really is as bad as depicted in practically every Worm story ever. In my first month there, there was two gang fights in the cafeteria, one stabbing and three gun scares. I ended up asking Grandpa for a knife, which he handed over without complaint or question. I did know how to use it after all.

Leaving aside the nessesaty of being armed at fucking school, lets take a look at the other thing that Winslow had, namely Taylor Hebert. She was...well, pretty much like you'd expect. Shy, sad and not really willing to interact with anyone. Can't really blame her to be honest. I did what I could, but the official apathy was strong and Sophia and her band of sociopaths just wouldn't quit. It certainly didn't help that I had my own pest in the form of a foul mouthed lunatic by the name of Carmine who had decided that he really didn't like me and kept trying to pick fights. When he wasn't suspended and even bothered to show up at school at least.

For some odd reason, that reminded me of something, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was.

On the subject of sociopaths, I had originally planned to get some evidence of Sophia's misdeeds and splash it all over the internet where the PRT would (hopefully) see it and deal with her, but as it turned out, that was a waste of time. Not because the PRT are useless and more interested in PR, but because Sophia somehow managed to avoid getting press ganged. Gangsters still showed up with bolt wounds on occasion, but never to the point of crossing that line that tipped Sophia from violent vigilante into full on Villain. I have no doubt that the PRT would prefer her to be off the street, but she hadn't taken that extra step.

That said, the fact that the school was letting Hess and Barnes get away with what they did without Sophia's handler leaning on them was all kinds of fucked up.

Wondering why I didn't mention Madison? Well, that would be because she'd disappeared. A few months into the school year, Madison had collapsed and ended up being taken to hospital. A few days later, she vanished from her room, leaving nothing but a note and some very large gouges in the window ledge that looked uncomfortably like claw marks. All very mysterious and sad, but I was just glad that I didn't have to deal with three idiots giving Taylor a hard time. Well, at first. Then I remembered that the Bitches Three had a whole coven of other bitches to draw from to round out the number.

Whatever the case, I at least managed to keep Taylor from suffering too much in the Locker and, if Sophia's lack of keeling over was anything to go by, even managed to keep her from Triggering. I somehow doubted that anything much would come from that from above, but at least Taylor wouldn't have to suffer to much more and would hopefully start to trust me. And no, I'm not going into detail about the Locker.

Of course, I really should have known that something strange would happen today, but in my defence, I didn't really expect my life to run on story book logic.

With the inevitable circus that surrounded the Locker incident over and the school shut early for decontamination (which I really, REALLY hope they did properly), so I got to enjoy an extra day at home with my new batch of games I got as birthday/Christmas gifts (incidentally, being born on the 26th of December makes things so much cheaper for my relatives. They only have to get me one sat of gifts per year after all. On the down side, only one set of presents per year. Bummer) and have fun annoying my sister by waving the extra free day in her face. It was well worth getting jumped on, even if she did make me play Mario Cart with her as an apology and I suck at that game.

* * *

I'd just managed to convince Missy to switch the game to something I was a little better at when Mom poked her head around the door.

"Hey Noel, do you mind nipping down the shops to grab some milk and coffee?" she asked, "It looks like your Father has used the last of both and hasn't bothered to tell me."

I rolled my eyes at the venom in the word 'Father' and the latest example of childish sniping between the two supposed adults, but rolled off the sofa and sprang to my feet.

"Sure thing, let me just grab my coat," I said.

I did just that and accepted the note Mom handed me as I headed out the door. It being the middle of winter, night had fallen and it was more than a little chilly. Normally, going out after dark in a place like Brockton Bay would be a terrible idea, but our neighbourhood was one of the safer ones and the full moon, hanging low and bright in the sky, threw out more than enough light along with the street lamps that I could see easily. Plus, I had my knife and I wasn't going far so I should be fine.

Of course, I didn't exactly account for literal monsters in that assessment. Well, I guess I did, just not in the way I should have.

I was on my way back from the shop, bag containing the groceries swinging idly from my arm, when it happened. The first indication that something was off was when things suddenly got very quiet. Since Brockton is rather quiet at night for a city (when things aren't exploding at least), I didn't notice it at first, but it didn't take me long to realize that something was stalking me. I slowed down, reaching into my jacket and taking hold of my knife as I rounded a corner and stopped.

For a moment, I stood still, waiting for whoever was following me to round the corner. After a couple of moments, I relaxed slightly when no one appeared.

"Huh, guess I was imagining i…HOLY FUCK!"

I jumped about a foot in the air as something small, black and very fast shot out of the darkness and sank shadowy fangs into my leg. My knife shot down, biting deep into shadowy flesh, before I wrenched the creature off and stomped down hard, feeling whatever it was squash under my heavy boot and dissipate into shadows.

"What...the...fuck...was...that?!" I gasped, feeling rather out of breath from the fright and sudden pain.

I pulled my trouser leg up and stared at the strange looking wound that seemed to be leaking some kind of purple mist and was rather large considering the size of the creature that bit me.

"Oh hell, that can't be good," I said, "Was that some kind of Parahuman pow…errrrrr…"

The world began to spin, making me stumble and slump against the wall next to me. I could feel a strange, icy heat flowing through me from the bite, almost as if something had entered when the thing had bit me.

"D-did that thing p-poison me?" I slurred, "I think I'm gonna…"

My vision started to darken as my muscles went limp, leaving me to slide down the wall and land in a heap. By this point, I was almost completely numb and could hear nothing but my heart pounding in my ears. Then, just as I was about to pass out, a pair of black heeled boots landed in front of me.

"Well, this won't do at all," said a haughty, female voice from above me, "I can't have the only interesting thing I've seen this Cycle die like a dog out here in the cold."

I shifted my eyes, the only thing I could still move, and looked up at the girl stood in front of me. Thanks to my failing vision and the moon behind her, all I could see was a pair of black pigtails and what appeared to be rabbit ears. The figure bent down and I caught a flash of red eyes that almost seemed to glow in the night.

"Time to go little Dog," she said, "You will not die here if I can help it."

She reached for me as I slipped into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And you know what? Its a bit short, but I'm going to leave this here. Its more of a proof of concept anyway. Plus, it'll be interesting to see if anyone can figure out what the crossovers with. Heres a clue, although its not Blazblue, Rachel has actually appeared in a game that is a crossover with the other world in this particular crossover.
> 
> Fun fact, did you know that Noel is a unisex name traditionally given to children born on or near Christmas eve in France? I didn't. Its amazing what you can learn on a Wikiwalk. On a related note, I didn't actually intend for Noel to look like...Noel from Blazblue, despite the fact that his role is somewhat inspired by her. That was entirely accidentally and not indicative of anything, although its not impossible that I'll include some callbacks to that now that I've noticed it.
> 
> So, anyone want to take a guess as to whats going on with Fortuna? Not Contessa, not anymore. If your interested, I'll tell you in a PM, but I kinda want to keep it to myself for now. It'll make for an interesting twist.
> 
> Incidentally, because this is a true crossover, some Worm characters will be modified so that, instead of Parahumans, their powers come from the new crossover, although their powers will generally be similar. There will also be some non-Parahuman chracters who have powers now thanks to the crossover. So far, we've met one, but there are a few more. In many ways, it makes the world better, but in others it makes it worse. MUCH worse. Mainly because one of them is Jack Slash and, well, lets just say that Fortuna isn't the only one channelling Blazblue.
> 
> Not sure what I'll do with Taylor yet, so I left it open as to whether or not she Triggered in the Locker. She might have a role, she might not, but if anyone can figure out the crossover and suggest a suitable power she could have from it (assuming I don't decide to just give her all the bugs), I might consider using it.
> 
> And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out and...have a good Night.


	2. Chapter 2

As it turns out, fainting randomly on the in Earth Bet street is a great way of ending up in M/S quarantine, especially when you have a Ward in the family. I'm still not entirely sure how I ended up finding myself waking up in the foyer of my house, but I suppose it was better than ending up in a Merchant crack house as a new 'recruit' or something. I could have done without a squad of Troopers busting down the door while I was still getting my head on straight though. Fortunately, I wasn't about to miss any school since Winslow was currently closed for cleaning. As it turns out, a toxic soup of rotting menstrual blood, bugs and whatever else was in there couldn't be cleaned up with just a bit of bleach and, without anyone to lean on the authorities, the Cops were readily involved. Unfortunately, it was unlikely that anything would come from it due to the sheer mess that was Winslow's rumour mill and the fact that it was highly unlikely that anyone would be willing to speak up, but at least the cops were looking now.

That said, I do understand why Missy (cus who else could it have been?) called it in since Masters were a real threat, so I wouldn't hold it against her. Much. It also gave me some time away in the quiet to think and to try and figure out where in the hell my new power had come from, despite the fact I was certain I had not Triggered. I was fairly sure that Triggers didn't come with names after all.

What do I mean by that? Well, ever since that night, I'd been feeling...strange. I could feel something inside me, an energy that was somehow both warm and cold, that buzzed beneath my skin, just waiting to be called forth. When I did so, cautiously and with my head buried in the thin pillow on the bed, I found myself greeted by a world of many layers and lit by points of blue and purple light.

Trying to describe what it was like isn't easy, but I'll do my best. When I activated my power, my vision changed completely. I could see through the walls around me, as well as the people keeping an eye on me from the other side of a well hidden screen and beyond them. My vision didn't seem to extend very far as each object in the way seemed to reduce the clarity I could see until my vision was stopped and the PRT building was rather cluttered, but it was still impressive. Despite the fact I was seeing through objects, I could see the objects I was looking through perfectly well. I could simultaneously look at one of the scientists organs and bones, while also seeing his face in perfect detail, although for some strange reason, I couldn't see through his clothes, despite the fact I could see the contents of his pockets and wallet without difficulty. I have to say, I was a little relieved by that, if more than a little confused as to how that actually worked. Strangely enough, the energy and power seemed to come with a name. Shatterpoint. Rather fitting all things considered.

I couldn't do much more than that while I was in the tank and I was rather glad I deliberately kept my eyes out of view while I did it when I tried using my power in front of the mirror and discovered that my when active, my pupils transformed into crosses and gained a noticeable blue glow, which would have guaranteed getting dragged into the Wards, which I would rather avoid to be honest.

Then again, maybe not. Missy was only a Ward because she'd wanted to and pulled the puppy dog routine on Dad. Mom hadn't wanted Missy in the Wards at all (actually, she didn't want her being a Parahuman at all), so naturally Dad signed Missy up to annoy Mom. Chances are, my Parents would let me decide, assuming they ever figured out if I had powers.

* * *

Anyway, once I was let out of the M/S tank, and suffered through a day of being fussed over by Mom, I finally had chance to head out to figure out what I could do in a random abandoned building that was surprisingly not located in the Docks. The Docks might have been hit the hardest, but the rest of Brockton wasn't looking to hot either.

The building in question was an old community hall that, for various reasons, had fallen out of use. I'm not entirely sure why, but frankly, I didn't care much. It was a large, open space that was both fairly out of the way and no one used, while still being in a fairly safe part of town, making it a decent place to figure out what I could do.

I entered the building through the back door, which had long since rotted to the point I could open it with a swift kick in the right place, and dropped my bag on a fairly sturdy table that was still present, before cracking my knuckles and getting to work.

In addition to my new X-ray vision (which I'm pretty sure didn't use X-rays), I could also see numerous points of blue and purple light on whatever I focused on. Like the penetrative vision, they didn't obscure my view of the object, but were still clearly visible. Those lights represented weak points that, if struck, would allow me to destroy the object easily. The blue ones represented physical targets and could be damaged with sufficient force applied correctly, although the force required was often rather large, while the purple lights represented concepts. These were far fewer than the blue lights and could only be hit if I channeled the energy flowing through me into the strike. The energy could also be used to destroy the blue sparks as well with a lot less energy and force.

I also discovered that my vision was insanely good. Like, Legend insanely good. I could count the feathers on a seagull sat out on the bow of the tanker blocking the entrance of the Bay.

The final thing I discovered, mostly by accident, was that I was now stronger and tougher than I had been. It wasn't massive, but it was enough that I wasn't able to easily cut myself with my knife and I was strong enough to lift and punch through a breeze block I found laying around outside without to much trouble.

With my power testing done, I decided to head into town for lunch. Anything to avoid the toxic mess that was home at the moment, especially with Missy out 'with friends', which probably meant she was on patrol with the Wards.

* * *

As I made my way towards the Boardwalk, I decided to check to see if there was anything new on PHO on my phone. That proved to be a mistake as it lead me to trip over a girl who was, for some strange reason, sprawled out on the sidewalk in broad daylight. While that wasn't necessarily an unheard of event around here, her clothes didn't exactly scream Merchant and she was a blonde white girl in Empire territory. She also looked about 12, which thankfully served as at least a bit of protection. As such, I decided to check on her.

"Hey kid, are you OK?" I asked as I knelt down beside her and gently shook her shoulder.

"Hunnnnngggrryyyyy…."

GROWLLLL!

I jerked my hand back at the unexpected sound. What the hell? This was like a scene out of an Anime! The girl looked up and looked at me, revealing large, brown eyes and what appeared to be permanent blush marks on her cheeks that looked really weird when not animated.

"Hey mister, you got any food?" she asked.

"Err, what?" I asked, not entirely sure how someone could be stupid enough to ask a complete stranger for food.

"Food!" said the girl, "I'm hunggggryyyy yuu!"

Her stomach once again spoke up to confirm it.

"Er, well, theres a restaurant just down there," I said, pointing in the direction of the nearest eatery, which happened to be Fugly Bobs.

"I know, but they kicked me out!" whined the girl, "Said I couldn't try the Challenger if I didn't have any money! Buncha meanies, who cares if I'm small? I coulda beaten it yuu..."

I stared at the girl as she trailed off into unintelligible mutterings about evil monsters who kept food away from cute girls. Also, what was with that verbal tick? And why did it sound so familiar?

"Riiiight, well, good luck in getting...food then," I said, getting to my feet and turning to leave.

She looked just fine to me and seemed to have plenty of energy to complain. She'd be fine.

However, before I could leave, a surprisingly strong hand grabbed the hem of my trousers. I looked back down to see that the girl now had streams of tears running down her cheeks that did not look in any way natural.

"Noooo, you can't leave Mika here, yuu!" she wailed, "I'll waste away, turn to dust! Please mister, you gotta feed me!"

I glanced around and twitched as I realized the girls wailing was attracting a lot of attention and disapproving whispers. I twitched again as I felt my wallet spontaneously become a lot lighter in my pocket. This was gonna be expensive, I just knew it.

* * *

"WHOOO, thanks Mister yuu!" chirped the girl as she slammed down her fifth bowl of Katsudon and snatched up a nearby bowl of rice.

"Your welcome," I said through nearly gritted teeth as I watched my allowance go down the drain.

I should have gone to Fuglies and let her try the Challenger. It would have been a lot cheaper than this. How in the world had I let this dimwit scam me anyway? I sighed and took the opportunity to get a proper look at the girl now she wasn't flat on her face.

She was short, very short, and looked about the same age as my sister. She had dark blonde hair tied in pigtails with yellow ribbons, large, brown eyes and was, for some strange reason, wearing a white and navy blue sailor uniform with a yellow ribbon and a belt buckle that looked vaguely like a caduceus, but I'm pretty sure was the logo of a charity of some kind that had done a lot of good work in the city lately.

"By the way, whats your name mister yuu?" asked the girl through a mouthful of rice.

"Its Noel," I said, "Noel Biron.

"Mph, nice ta meet ya Noel," said the girl as she finished the bowl and reached for the next one, "I'm Mika Returna yuu!"

Despite my annoyance, I couldn't help but smile back. She might have scammed me out of a meal, but her energy and cheer was so infectious, it was nearly impossible to resist smiling with her. Plus, it was nice to have company for lunch. That said, that name did sound oddly familiar…

"So, what exactly were you doing passed out on the street?" I asked.

"Oh, I got lost," said Mika, "I'm new in town and got separated from my friends. I tried to find them, but ended up getting completely lost! I nearly starved to death, yuu!"

"Mmhm, and how long ago did you get lost?" I asked.

"About an hour."

"I see."

Somehow, that didn't surprise me much. On the up side, it would hopefully be fairly easy to find her friends. If nothing else, I could get her home without too much trouble. What? I wasn't about to leave a little girl to wander around alone after this.

"So, do you need any help finding your friends?" I asked.

Mika looked up from her food with a look of surprise on her face.

"You'd do that, yuu?" she asked.

"Sure, why not?" I asked, "Honestly, I don't think I could let you wander around on your own when you remind me so much of my sister. Besides, Brockton isn't exactly the safest place."

"Eh, I'd be fine," said Mika, "But I could use someone to show me around, yuu."

I smiled slightly.

"So, where abouts are you…"

"There you are Mika!"

I looked over my shoulder at the sound of the voice and raised an eyebrow at the sight of the rather beautiful young woman approaching the table. She was wearing a similar uniform to Mika, only her ribbon was purple. She had long, blue hair kept back with a white headband and blue eyes.

"AH, Orie, you found me!" yelled Mika, waving wildly.

"A friend of yours?" I asked as the girl approached, looking me up and down with an air of someone who knew their way around a fight.

"I am," said the girl, "I'm Orie Ballardiae. Thank you for looking after Mika, I know she can be...a bit of a handful."

"Eh, I don't mind," I said, "I'm used to handfuls to be honest. Noel Biron, nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Orie accepted my offered hand, only for both of us to stiffen as a rather bizarre feeling shot up my arm when we touched. At the same time, my power briefly activated and I was greeted by the sight of two Human shaped, purple silhouettes with a shadowy armoured form armed with a massive sword floating behind Orie and a much hazier and seemed to wrap around Mika's body in a way that gave the impression of supporting and enhancing her body. I'd never seen anything like them and they certainly weren't Parahumans. Capes didn't really look any different from normal Humans, other than their Corona Pollentia and Gemma and occasionally some bizarre distortions around them if their power was active. They certainly didn't look like the strange voids in front of me.

A moment later, my power deactivated and Orie yanked her hand back, taking a few steps away and reaching behind her for something. At the same time, I recoiled, my own hand darting back to where my knife was strapped to the back of my belt under my jacket.

Mika didn't seem to notice the sudden tense atmosphere as she went back to her lunch.

"What are you?" I asked carefully.

Orie narrowed her eyes, then glanced around. Despite our reactions, no one had bothered to give us a second look, although the guy behind the bar was watching us carefully. I guess potentially violent confrontations were fairly normal around here.

Once she was sure that no one was listening in, she slipped into the booth next to Mika and fixed me with an intense look.

"You don't know what you are, do you?" she asked.

I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," I said a little tersly.

"Thats a no then," said Orie, "Alright, listen up cus this is important. You aren't a Parahuman, your something called an In-birth."

I felt my stomach drop into my shoes at that, closely followed by an intense urge to slam my face into the table. NOW I knew where I recognized these two from! They were characters from Under Night In-birth, a fighting game I'd got into shortly before my untimely death last time through! It also explained what had happened on the night I'd been bitten. I must have stumbled into a Night by accident, although how I hadn't noticed is anyones guess considering it was supposed to dye everything red. I must have been really out of it.

I kept my mouth shut and listened carefully as Orie filled me in on the Night, ESX and just what In-birth were and their relationship with Parahumans, which wasn't that different from their relationship with regular Humans. In other words, they kept their existence secret from everyone, although there were some In-birth who used their powers to fight crime like Parahumans. In fact, most successful independent Capes were actually In-births. Quite why that was the case, I don't know and Orie didn't elaborate.

"I see," I said once she was done, "So, what happens now?"

"Now, you have to decide what to do," said Orie, fixing me with a steely glare, "What will you do with your power now that you know the truth?"

I frowned.

"I don't intend to just start picking random fights with people if thats what your thinking," I said.

Orie relaxed slightly.

"That said," I continued, "I don't think that I can just sit back and do nothing with these powers. There is far to many monsters out there for me to ignore. If my power can help remove some of them, I can't just sit back and watch as people like Kaiser and Lung tear my home apart."

Orie stared at me for a moment, then sighed and nodded.

"I suppose I can't really fault you for that," she said, "Just be aware that neither the world of the Night, nor the world of Parahumans are easy ones to live in. You will have to fight."

"I don't expect it to be easy," I said, "But nothing worth doing is."

"Well said I suppose," said Orie, "Alright, just make sure you stay on the right path. I'd hate to have to meet you on the battlefield."

"Likewise," I said.

I stood and dropped some notes and coins on the table.

"Here, this should be enough," I said, "I'll see you ladies around."

Orie nodded while Mika grinned and waved, nearly taking Ories eye out with her chopsticks.

"See ya Mister!" she said, "Thanks for the food yuu!"

I smiled and waved back as I left.

Outside the restaurant, I stopped and took a deep breath. That...had not been what I expected in the slightest. I'd had an inkling that my powers might not be normal, but I certainly wasn't expecting to run into a crossover like that. It did go some way to explain the strange hair colours people had though…

"Well, that was certainly a rather impressive speech."

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the unexpected voice and spun around to see a girl stood nearby with a parasol in her hand, looking at me with a strange look on her face. She looked about 12, with extremely pale skin, long, black hair pulled into pigtails with black ribbons and red, slitted eyes. She was wearing a black, Gothic Lolita style dress and jacket with a red ribbon bowtie and bottom half, black pony heel boots with a red cross, and a red ribbon on her right ankle. Despite her youth, I couldn't help but get the feeling that she was much, MUCH older than me.

"The question is, can you follow up on it?" said the girl.

I stared at her for a moment.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, "And who are you anyway?"

The girls brow furrowed.

"I would suggest that you'd be more polite to the person who saved your life," she said.

I frowned.

"Saved my…"

Then, the last thing I saw before I'd past out the night I'd been bitten came back to me.

"Wait, your the girl from that night!" I said.

The girl sniffed and somehow managed to look down her nose at me, despite being over a head shorter.

"I see you aren't completely brain dead then," she said, "Yes, I did pick you up after you passed out."

I scowled slightly at the insult.

"OK, not that I don't appreciate it, but why?" I asked.

For a moment, the girl was silent as she looked over my shoulder at where a girl with bubblegum pink hair was chatting with a young woman with long, purple hair in a light pink jacket and skinny jeans and ignoring the second looks she got from the crowd.

"Its been a very long time since something unexpected has occurred within the Cycle," said the girl, "So long that I somehow completely missed most of them and dismissed the ones I did notice. It was only when you pulled Taylor Hebert from her locker that I realized just how much had changed. There are always slight differences, but the addition of an entire world that I know for a fact didn't exist until you were born and somehow retroactively changed the entire world."

She turned her attention back to me and fixed me with a look that made me feel like she was X-raying me.

"You could be what I need to finally break the Cycle once and for all and I'll be damned if I let you die before then."

I stared at her. How in the world was I supposed to react to that? After a moment, I asked the only question I reasonably could.

"Who the fuck are you?!"

The girl looked at me, then smiled slightly, revealing razor sharp fangs and shut her parasol, placing the tip between her feet as she bowed precisely.

"My name is Fortuna Tepes," she said, "At one time, I was known as Contessa, but that time is long past, and the holder of the Observer Shard of the Thinker. Its a pleasure to meet you, Noel Biron."

I stared at the girl, now utterly and completely floored as my brain tried to come up with a response to two utterly unbelievable revelations in the space of about five minutes. The only thing I knew for sure was that my life had just got a lot stranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done. Still a bit short, but this'll do fine since it got all the important stuff out of the way and its not a bad spot to end.
> 
> So, now we know where Noels power comes from and just how much the birth of an Outsider can affect reality. Under normal circumstances, people wouldn't even be aware that the timeline had been changed so completely and its only thanks to Fortuna's power that shes aware of the changes at all. In fact, she WAS effected until she actively looked and realized that things had changed from the previous Cycles for no apparent reason.
> 
> I really hope my explanation of Noels power makes sense. To simplify, think a combination of the Byakugan, without the 360 degree vision, and the Eyes of Death Perception, albeit not quite as broken.
> 
> Incidentally, can anyone use that information to figure out just what the Cycle refers to here? If you can, please be considerate and don't blurt it out. I will give one more clue though, the fact that I used Rachel as a basis for Fortuna is a big clue in and of itself.
> 
> I don't actually intend to reveal just how Fortuna managed to stop her aging since all girls deserve their little secrets, but her name is more for amusement. Her homeland is the equivalent of Transylvania on her Earth, so her family is actually descended from Vlad Dracul. Not that thats actually relevant to anything.
> 
> Speaking of cycles, as part of the world now being part Anime style game, some Worm characters will be getting their hair colour changed and a few will also be switched to In-births. With that in mind, want to take a guess as to who it was talking to Yuzuriha? Side note, the powers aren't mutually exclusive, but In-births can't Trigger due to the changes from regular Human body to a Vessel and since both Parahumans and In-birth are supposed to be pretty rare, the chances of a Parahuman ending up in the Night is pretty low.
> 
> Incidentally, Mika is one of my favorite characters in Under Night, simply because her story made me laugh my ass off. Plus, I wanted to have Noel get scammed out of a meal and she seemed like a good choice. I suppose I could have used Linne, but I don't think that'd work as well.
> 
> Speaking of which, I don't suppose that anyone knows if she goes by her current hosts name or just goes by Linne? Cus I can't find anything on that on the Wiki.
> 
> And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review!


	3. Chapter 3

"Its so quiet here," I muttered as I stared out over the field of colourful flowers that stretched out to the horizon.

"Yes, there isn't much in the way of animal life on this world," said Fortuna, "Personally, I like it. It makes it easy to ignore the passage of time. Thank you Sylphid"

I turned round to where the youthful Thinker was sitting at a rather nice table being served tea by a young woman in a maid uniform who had appeared out of nowhere shortly after Fortuna had dragged me through a portal to this world and nearly choked me out off before Fortuna told her to let go.

"Why am I here?" I asked, "I don't really know anything about the Night or In-births or even anything about how you weren't able to notice them until I was born."

"Perhaps not, but I'm not really interested in that," said Fortuna, "I don't care where you or the Night came from, what I care about is where we go from here."

I frowned slightly at that. This whole thing was...strange. The way Fortuna spoke, moved and acted was completely at odds from the emotionless killing machine I'd expected from the woman who was the Cauldrons main enforcer. Frankly, I'd have expected this meeting to involve bullets and possibly a one way trip to a cell by a robotic woman, driven only by her Path that would lead to a broken future. Instead I got a girl who was, while cool, still clearly capable of feeling emotions, confident to the point of arrogance and clearly extremely curious in a way that makes no sense if she was a Precog.

"Alright, where do we go?" I asked, "You clearly want something from me, so what is it?"

Fortuna sighed softly.

"First, let me tell you a story," she said, "It began 35 years ago when two Entities discovered a world ripe for the taking…"

I listened without comment as Fortuna told me the story of how the Entities came to Earth and their role in the creation of Parahumans, as well as just what was waiting for Earth once Zion got bored and decided to finish it all.

"Alright, assuming thats all true, what do you want me to do about it?" I asked once she was done, "Do you want me to fight Scion? Cus I don't think I'm strong enough for that."

Fortuna snorted and shook her head.

"No, I can deal with Scion without issue," she said, "I've discovered plenty of methods of removing that problem. The problem is the other one."

I frowned.

"I thought you said the Thinker was dead?" I asked.

"She is, but unfortunately, before she died, she managed to start her Cycle," said Fortuna, "A cycle I've been trapped in for what feels like forever."

I frowned as I thought over everything Fortuna said, putting together the pieces and came to the only conclusion I could.

"A time loop?" I asked.

Fortuna looked slightly surprised for a moment, then smiled faintly.

"Correct," she said, "For a while, I thought that my power was a form of precognition, but I eventually realized that I was actually seeing all the past Cycles that had come before."

"OK, but why?" I asked, "Whats the point in the loop?"

"As far as I can tell, its to get the most out of the host species," said Fortuna, "The loop seems to be tied to Zion and will reset when he is killed or three hundred years pass. I assume that once the latter is reached a few times, the Thinker breaks the loop and the Entities move on."

She fixed me with a look.

"Your being rather more accepting than I would have expected," she said.

"Its been one of those days," I said, "Besides, its quite clear that you don't really need to bullshit me and if you did, you would have come up with a more plausible story."

I frowned.

"I am curious as to why you decided I can help though," I said, "I can't control time and I barely know anything about my powers. Surely there must be other In-births who can do a better job?"

Fortuna frowned slightly.

"I don't think you quite understand what your existence means," she said, "You should not exist. While different people are born with every cycle due to the differences caused by my actions and the natural effects of the loop, I can always see where they came from and the changes that allowed it in past Cycles. You have nothing. There is no indication that you could possibly exist anywhere. Not only that, but your birth somehow changed everything and brought people into existence who had not existed before the Loop began. That should be impossible. Somehow, your birth completely changed the timeline in a way that not even the Entities could. Even if you can't do anything about the Loop, you are still an unexpected anomaly and I'd be a fool to pass up the chance to learn something new."

"So what, I'm just an interesting specimen?" I asked.

Fortuna tilted her head on one side.

"Perhaps," she said, "You interest me, and the rest of your kind of course, but theres something about you that is...different. I am almost certain that you know more than your letting on, but I cannot figure out how or what that is. So yes Noel Biron, you are an interesting specimen to me and I fully intend to keep you alive for as long as possible."

* * *

After that, the conversation quickly came to an end and Sylphid showed me out and back through a portal back to Brockton Bay.

"You'll have to excuse Miss Fortuna's attitude," said the woman once we were stood in an alleyway somewhere in the docks, "She...hasn't exactly had an easy time."

"Yeah, I get that," I said, "Its just...she seems so damn cold."

"Considering what she's likely done in the past, that was probably intentional so she isn't completely paralysed by guilt," said Sylphid, "Oh, and before I forget, she asked me to give you this."

She handed me a blue domino mask with a black shatter pattern over the right eye.

"Um, thanks?" I said.

"It wouldn't do for you to get outed and killed before you do anything interesting, can we?" said Sylphid with a warm smile.

I stared at her.

"You're so kind," I deadpanned.

The maid simply smiled and vanished back through the portal, leaving me alone in the alley. I sighed and glanced down at the mask in my hand, then shrugged and put it on. I didn't really feel like going home just yet, not with the sheer number of things on my mind, and doing something physical would help with that. I could go for a run, but roof hopping sounded much more fun.

I took a few steps and jumped, catching the railing that ran around the fire escape bolted to the wall above me. I paused and looked down as the height of the jump hit me. I'd forgotten about the physical boosts In-births got.

"Huh, that'll be useful," I muttered, then heaved myself up.

With a quick pull, I jumped three levels and grabbed the metal railing again, which groaned ominously under my weight.

"Hmm, maybe not," I said and pulled myself over the railing, continuing up onto the roof the normal way.

I didn't really fancy getting buried under the metal fire escape if I accidentally pulled the rusted metal off the wall.

I reached the roof and stopped at the edge, looking out over the city, lit as it was by the setting sun. I hadn't realised it was so late, but I guess going to an entirely different version of Earth for a chat and tea can do that to you.

I took a deep breath and flipped up my hood, then ran towards the edge of the roof and pushed off. I was confident in my ability to make the jump, but even if I couldn't, I could fall safely and my durability as an In-birth would mean I wouldn't be hurt.

I wasn't expecting the roof to distort as I jumped, nearly causing me to faceplant as the edge was suddenly over a meter away. I reacted, turning my loss of balance into a roll as my eyes activated and I grabbed the hilt of my knife, ready to draw it at a moments notice.

However, my combat readiness was proven to be entirely pointless a moment later as I saw the two of teens who were now stood across the roof from me.

"Huh, wasn't expecting that," said the white clad time-stopper, earning a jab to the stomach from my currently costumed sister.

I sighed as I let go of my knife and stood, carefully straightening my hood as I did. I really didn't fancy being recognized by Missy this early thank you very much.

"Are you a new Cape?" asked Vista.

"That I am," I said, "You can call me Shatterpoint."

Clockblocker opened his mouth, but Vista elbowed him again before he could say anything.

"Nice to meet you Shatterpoint," she said, "I'm Vista of the Wards and this is Clockblocker. Do you mind if I ask what your doing up here?"

"Not much really," I said, "I'm kinda new to my powers, so was testing to see what my limits were."

Technically not a lie since thats exactly what I planned to do.

"You know the PRT have people and resources that would let you do that," said Vista.

I smiled thinly.

"Sorry, but I won't be joining up," I said, "Maybe if the Protectorate and PRT did more than sit on their hands while druggies, Nazis and Yakuza bled the city dry, but as they are now? Not a chance."

"Wow, tell us how you really feel," said Clockblocker.

I smiled a little wider and shrugged.

"Sorry, I just call it like I see it," I said, "I know that there are likely countless factors that make actually getting rid of the Gangs hard, but when the PRT can't even keep hold of the Capes they arrest for a week, even when they are proven to be responsible for multiple murders? Yeah, not a chance."

Both Wards winced. I sighed.

"Look, I'm not really int…"

I abruptly stopped talking as I felt a flare of something that I'm pretty sure was EXS from a few blocks away. I spun around as a loud scream and an equally loud crash erupted, catching the attention of the two Wards. I narrowed my eyes, focusing my power until I could see the fight going on in the alleyway between a bunch of thugs and a purple silhouette of EXS that was stained red and seemed to have blood visibly running through it and out of the figures hands, eyes and hair, creating a very disturbing image.

"What was that?" said Vista.

"Looks like a fight between a bunch of thugs and a Cape," I said, "I'm going to take a look."

I ran to the roofs edge and jumped, easily clearing the alley below without slowing down. I could vaguely hear the two Wards scrambling to keep up, even with Vista crunching space as Clockblocker called in the fight and apparently received permission to investigate.

* * *

It didn't take me long to reach the alley the 'fight' was taking place in, but by the time I arrived, it was already over. All of the thugs were down in various states of pain and brokenness and the man responsible was holding the last of them up by the collar.

He was tall and lean, with long, crimson hair and black eyes with red where the whites should be. He was wearing a black, sleeveless jacket that stopped just above his waist and was left partly unzipped, revealing a portion of his chest, a pair of baggy, blood red pants, a black and silver belt and black shoes. His arms were dyed red up to just above his elbows. He wasn't wearing a mask, but even knowing who he really was, its doubtful I could have recognized him with his hair and eyes such a different colour.

"Eheh, is that all ya got shit for brains?" sneered Carmine, "Pathetic! And here I thought your idiots were supposed to be tough!"

He threw the thug against the dirty wall of the alleyway with an audible crunch.

"Oh great, its Bloodstain," muttered Clockblocker as the two Wards caught up and saw who had caused the ruckus.

"Who?" I asked.

"Hes a new Cape that showed up recently," said Vista, "We don't have much information on him, other than the fact hes violent, abrasive and generates some kind of blood-like liquid he can control. We've been ordered to keep our distance if we encounter him."

"Hey, you little shits know I can hear you right!" shouted Carmine.

The three of us quickly backed away as the volatile In-birth jumped up onto the roof in a blast of crimson liquid. I drew my knife and shifted into a loose stance. I didn't really want to fight him, but that didn't mean I trusted the Crimson Origin not to attack if one of us said the wrong thing. Carmine noticed my shift and grinned, shifting into a loose stance of his own.

"You wanna fight shithead?" he sneered.

"Not if I can help it," I said carefully.

Carmine scoffed and relaxed slightly.

"Suite yourself," he said, "Not like I can really pick a fight with you shitheads anyway."

"Whats that supposed to mean?" asked Vista.

"Ya think I wanna end up in prison?" asked Carmine, "Not a chance brat, I'll stick to the trash. Sides, there are plenty of interesting people to fight out there, I don't need to resort to kicking the shit outta brats like you."

Vista bristled slightly, before visibly pushing down her anger at being dismissed.

"Look Bloodstain, I get that having powers and going out to clean up the streets is one hell of a rush," she said, "But if you keep up like this, the gangs are going to retaliate eventually, so…"

She was cut off by Carmines maniacal laugh.

"Clean up the streets?" he crowed, "Ya idiots think I'm out here with some grand plan to clean up crime?! HA, that's a riot! Nah, I don't give a shit bout any of that stuff, the only thing I wanna do is fight and shitheads like those morons down there are perfect targets! Fuck, I was doing this before I even had powers!"

He gave a bloodthirsty grin as his Blood Spike began to shift and crystallize slightly on his arms.

"And if those shithead Capes do come after me, who cares?! I'll just beat the shit out of them and leave them to bleed out like the trash they are!"

Both Clockblocker and Vista took a step back, Vista's eyes going wide under her visior and I have no doubt that Clockblocker was the same. The killing intent coming of Carmine was practically palpable, not helped in the least by the was his eyes seemed to be glowing under the shadow thrown onto his face by his hair. I was less affected, but I still tensed and lifted my arms into a ready position.

"Heh, you idiots should consider yourselves lucky I'm in a good mood," said Carmine as the killing intent dissipated slightly and he turned away, "I'm gone. Later shit for brains!"

He jumped off the roof and I watched him saunter off down the street without a care in the world.

Behind me, the two Wards relaxed, Vista to the point that she fell on her bum, both breathing heavily and visibly shaken.

"Holy shit, I haven't felt anything that intense in...ever," said Clockblocker, "Even Hookwolf doesn't have that much...intensity!"

I sighed and sheathed my knife, stretching my arms out in an attempt to work out some of the tension. I would have almost preferred him attacking. At least that would have broken the tension. I shook myself off and walked to the edge of the roof.

"Where are you going?" asked Clockblocker.

"I want to check on the guys Bloodstain beat up," I said and hopped off the roof.

I landed lightly in the alley and quickly scanned the groaning pile of thugs. I could see a number of broken bones and most of them were bleeding from some kind of cut, but none of them looked immediately life threatening. Whether that was deliberate or not was up for debate. The one in the worst shape was the last guy Carmine had slammed into the wall, apparently the leader if the slightly nice clothes was anything to go by. He wasn't moving and had a number of broken bones. I checked the back of his head where it had hit the wall and scowled when I saw blood. Yeah, this guy needed an ambulance quickly.

"I've called this in," said Vista as she and Clockblocker joined me in the alley, "Help should be on the way."

She looked around and frowned.

"Who are these guys with?" she asked, "I don't recognize the colours."

I looked and frowned as I noticed that all of the men were wearing a black and white armband and the apparent leader was wearing a jacket that was black and white with a stylized A on the back in red. I glanced up and saw a half finished black and white tag on the wall sprayed over the E88 tag that had already been there.

"A new gang apparently," I said, indicating to the tag, "I don't suppose you've heard anything?"

Vista shook her head, looking rather serious. Quite frankly, the expression just made her look adorable, but I resisted the urge to comment on it. It would either earn me a kick to the shin or she'd recognize the reaction. And kick me in the shin anyway.

"I think theres been some reports coming in, but this is the first we've heard," she said.

"I see," I said, eyeing the tag with a sinking feeling in my stomach.

A black and white stylized A? I was fairly sure I knew who that was and it wouldn't be good news for anyone.

I glanced up as the sound of approaching sirens broke through my thoughts and frowned.

"Well, I think I'm gonna go," I said.

"What? Wait, we'll need to get a statement from you," said Vista.

I smiled.

"Sorry Vista, but I really don't feel like getting the Wards sell right now," I said, "I wasn't even supposed to be debuting yet after all. Just tell your bosses that I don't intend to cause them any trouble. Well, not too much."

I grinned and jumped, bouncing between the walls of the alley and onto the roof. I had no doubt that the two Wards could have stopped me if she wanted to, but they probably had orders, standing or otherwise, not to alienate new Capes who hadn't done anything wrong, which I hadn't.

I took off across the rooftops in a random direction until I was a few blocks away and came to a stop.

"How long do you plan to keep following me?" I asked as I turned around.

"How long did you know I was there?" asked a deep voice as a man stepped out from behind the little hut that led into the buildings stairwell.

He was a tall, muscular man with purple eyes and spiky black hair with a bang that covered his right eye and was wearing an open purple duster coat with a high collar, a gray lining and gold accents and with nothing underneath, revealing a muscled chest, grey trousers and brown, calf-length boots with dark brown soles and gold-colored zippers up the sides. His right hand was tucked carefully into his pocket and a purple domino mask covered his eyes, although it did nothing to hide the purple glow coming from his right eye.

"Since you were watching us in the alley," I said, "And you are?"

The man grinned.

"The names Harvester," he said, "I work for the same group as those fine gentlemen you helped back there."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Then why didn't you help them?" I asked.

Harvester shrugged.

"By the time I arrived, the fight was already over," he said, "Besides, those who can't fight tend not to last long in Amnesia."

He grinned and fixed me with a shrewd look.

"You can fight though," he said, "You can fight quite well. Plus, you and I have something in common."

"Your an In-birth," I said.

Harvester looked a little taken aback for a moment, then his grin returned.

"So you do know," he said, "And here I took you for a newbee."

"I am," I said, "Fortunately, some folks were nice enough to fill me in."

"Huh...well, explanations can only go so far," said Harvester, "If you want to survive, you need experience and the best way to get that is with some backup. The Night can be dangerous after all."

"Not interested," I said.

"Eh?"

"I'm really not interested in joining a gang," I said, "And before you say anything, if you weren't a gang, your goons wouldn't be tagging the place. Plus, those goons weren't In-birth, so that means your hiring normal muscle and I don't doubt for a moment that you plan to take more territory."

Harvesters smile became a bit fixed.

"I admit, we are planning on fighting against the gangs, but…"

"Is this where you tell me your just looking to make the city better?" I asked, "Cus thats what all the gangs say. True, they are much more limited in who they intend to make the city better for, but the reasoning is the same. Sorry, but I have no intention of helping the poison thats already killing the city."

Harvester stared at me for a moment, then sighed and shook his head.

"Damn, and here I thought you'd go for it," he said, "Oh well, at least I can tell the boss I tried."

He shook his head again and turned to leave.

"Later kid," he said, "I hope you won't hold it against me if the next time we meet we're enemies."

He waved and disappeared back behind the stairwell, leaving me along. I sighed and continued on towards the Boardwalk to find somewhere to change so I could head home. As I ran across the rooftops, I couldn't help but wonder just what the addition of Amnesia and Licht Kreis, cus the latter was definitely up to something if Orie and Mika were in town, would do for the city. Probably make things a lot messier for a while. On the up side, I knew how to cripple them for a while if it became necessary. A beat down during the Hollow Night would prevent them from using their abilities for a while after all.

Despite myself, I started to grin. Things were starting to get interesting and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next!

* * *

Across the fabric of reality, Fortuna closed off her vision and settled back in her chair.

"Interesting is right little dog," she said, "I think I should talk to the others about our project in the Bay. This little war is going to be much more interesting than Coils little plot."

She smiled and reached for her phone. If the show was going to keep on moving, she had people she needed to call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done. Well, that was certainly a rather interesting series of events, no? I originally intended to keep the actual meaning of the Cycle and why Fortuna is...Fortuna and not Contessa quiet for a while, but eventually decided not to bother.
> 
> In case you're wondering, this Fortuna both much worse and much better than her canon counterpart. She might be acting like a cold manipulator and, to be fair, she is one, but she has a very good reason for it. After living through so many cycles, shes basically had to kill her emotions to keep from going insane.
> 
> Carmine is remarkably fun to write. I just hope I got across his attitude and the fact he literally does not give a fuck about anything, not even himself.
> 
> Yeah, Amnesia are recruiting and gathering power. I don't see that going well for...anyone really. Trying to figure out power comparisons is going to be a massive pain, especially since every one of the characters seems to have someone commenting on how powerful they are, which is a minor pain in the rear. On the other hand, it also means I can do pretty much what I like with their power levels! Don't worry, I won't go too far.
> 
> Gordeau is also pretty fun to write. I rather like his character. Hopefully, he'll be appearing again soon.
> 
> And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!


	4. Chapter 4

Missy Biron shifted uncomfortably in her seat as the last of the Protectorate entered the meeting room and took their seats. It wasn't very often that the Wards, other than the team leader, were involved in the weekly meetings, but recent events meant that they needed to be brought up to speed.

"Alright, lets get this thing started," said Director Piggot once everyone had taken their seats, "Just what is going around here? I know that this cursed city has an insane number of Parahumans, but it seems to be getting worse!"

Armsmaster stood and cleared his throat.

"While I cannot give any answers as to why, I can confirm that recently there has been a spike in new Parahumans appearing," he said, "For whatever reason, most of them don't appear more than once or twice, but we haven't been able to figure out where they've been disappearing to. There havent been any increase in missing person or murder reports to corrilate with the increase of Parahumans. Our best guess was that they are leaving the city, however recent evidence suggests that they were being recruited."

Piggot frowned.

"Recruited by who?" she asked, "The gangs would have made a big deal out of it if they had a windfall of new Capes."

In response, Armsmaster activated the projector on the table and showed a screen with two symbols, a black and white stylized A and a purple emblem that resembled a horned, demonic face in profile.

"These two symbols are used by a pair of new organizations that have recently appeared," said the Tinker, "They go by Amnesia and Bankikai, but other than that, all we know is that the leader of Bankikai is goes by Ogre and appears to be nominally on the side of good, or at least, thats what he said when he spoke with Miss Militia a few nights ago."

The screen switched to showing a tall, well built man with long, metallic gray hair wearing a black armoured bodysuit with the bankinki symbol on the left breast, a utility belt around his waist, tough looking boots and a mirrored, visor-like mask that hid the top part of his face, leaving only his cocky grin visible.

"Aside from him, there are only rumours," continued Armsmaster, "We are fairly sure that the leader of Amnesia is a woman who goes by Paradox, but we have no idea what her powers are or what she looks like."

"So basically, we have nothing," said Piggot, "Fabulous."

She sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Alright, keep an eye out for any more information on Amnesia and on this...Bankikai group. I don't trust that they are entirely on the level and I certainly don't trust them not to do anything stupid."

There was a general round of acceptance from the gathered Parahumans. Personally, Missy thought that Piggot was being a little judgmental, but was realistic enough to acknowledge that most new hero groups went the way of the dodo, either by picking a fight with the wrong villain, just disbanding for interpersonal reasons or due to doing something that brought the PRT down on their heads.

"Moving on, what do we know about the two Capes Vista and Clockblocker encountered?" asked Piggot, "Are either of them involved?"

The screen switched to photos of Shatterpoint and Bloodstain, taken from the two Wards helmet footage.

"Highly unlikely," said Armsmaster, "Having analyzed the video of the encounter, and considering my own...encounter with Bloodstain, I have my doubts that he could work with anyone for long without getting into a fight with them."

The mans jaw visibly tightened and for good reason. The Tinkers encounter with Bloodstain had been an attempt to get the volatile Blaster under control and had not gone very well at all. To make matters worse, someone had managed to catch it on video and post it on PHO, resulting in a number of memes popping up, much to Armsmasters annoyance.

"As for Shatterpoint, I'm afraid that I honestly can't say," said Armsmaster, "Its clear that he doesn't think much of the PRT and Protectorate, but he also hates the gangs, so its unlikely that he'd agree to join any of the known gangs or Amnesia. Unfortunately, he hasn't been seen since the day Vista and Clockblocker encountered him."

"Well thats something I guess," said Piggot, "One less impulsive Cape running around punching people for us to worry about so we can focus on some of the bigger problems. Now…"

* * *

My fist slammed into my opponents face with a loud crunch of cartilage, sending the other In-birth cartwheeling into a nearby wall to join the rest of his friends in the land of unconsciousness. I groaned and slumped slightly, resting my hands on my knees as I tried to get my breathing under control.

Since that first day, I'd headed out into the Night a number of times and every single time, I ended up getting jumped by a bunch of morons in Amnesia colours, most of whom clearly had no idea how to use their powers and apparently thought that numbers would be enough to win the day. Unfortunately, I knew exactly how to deal with fighting multiple opponents and my power let me put down my opponents very quickly. For some strange reason, one of the few things I couldn't see through very well was EXS, making using my power in a Night or on another In-birth a right pain in the neck, but I still had plenty of targets that let me break bones and damage my opponents Vessels, which served to put them down fairly quickly. Having experienced having my Vessel damaged during an earlier fight, I can safely say that it fucking HURT.

"This is getting silly," I growled as I regained my breath and straightened, "What the hell is Paradox thinking? Amnesia won't get anywhere if all they do is throw themselves into battle like this!"

"And what makes you think we're going anywhere?"

"Huh? WHOA!"

I hopped back, barely avoiding a shadowy bolt that had been aimed at my sternum. I looked in the direction the bolt had come from and saw two shadows silhouetted against the bloody crimson sky. The moment I did, one of the two jumped and shot down towards me, their hair rolling out and transforming into razor sharp blades that lashed out at me as she landed. I evaded the stabs and quickly moved away from the pile of In-birth I'd already beaten. I didn't really fancy having to deal with them accidentally getting hit.

I slipped into a ready stance, eyeing my new opponents as the other girl dropped down to join her partner. The first girl was a little shorter than me and had bright red hair that waved and shifted as if she was under water, so long as you ignored the razor sharp and clearly metallic blades that tipped each tendril and the way it shifted and waved to keep her face completely hidden, regardless of how she moved. She was wearing a pair of jeans, a red black jacket with the Amnesia logo on the back and a pair of hard wearing boots that looked perfect for kicking peoples heads in.

The other girl was Shadow Stalker. The only different thing about her was that her crossbow was composed of wispy darkness rather than being an actual weapon. Well, that explains why she never got nabbed by the PRT I suppose.

"So, your the Eyes of Destruction then?" said the red-head, "Huh, I thought you'd be taller."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Thats what they're calling me?" I asked, "Christ, thats almost as bad as the Harvester of Greed or the Bloody Chaos…"

Shadow Stalker snorted.

"No one ever credited the general idiots with creative thinking," she said, "Just look at PHO."

"Point taken," I said, "So, you two must be Shadow Stalker and Medusa then?"

"Oh, so you've heard of us?" asked Medusa with a cocky smirk.

"I have," I said, "So, what can I do for you two ladies?"

My answer was two feral grins that I'd become uncomfortably familiar with due to having to deal with so many members of Amnesia. They weren't all complete maniacs of course, but the set up and modus operandi of the organization was practically designed for attracting adrenaline junkies and combat nuts, which also happened to make up a decently large proportion of In-births, presumably because you needed a fairly strong mind and will in order to survive the process to become one without turning into a Void or just flat out dying, as well as a decent amount of bloodlust and desire for power to continue to go out and enter the Night. Those who didn't have those traits tended to disappear pretty quickly since Manifestation didn't come with the same need to be used that Parahuman powers did.

Under normal circumstances, I would be perfectly happy to oblige the two girls desire for a dust up, but considering that I'd already been fighting for over three hours and I had to get up for my first day back at school in the morning, I really didn't feel like it right now.

"Ah, I see," I said, "Well, unfortunately, I'm going to have to disappoint you. I have a prior engagement and…"

I was cut off by a shadowy bolt shooting past my ear and embedding itself in a post behind me.

"Yeah, no, sorry, but your not getting away until you beat us or the Night ends," said Shadow Stalker.

My gaze hardened as I shifted, drawing my knife as I readied myself. I could already tell that I wasn't getting out of this without a fight, but the problem was that I was at a disadvantage. My power was potent and I only needed one blow in the right place to end the fight, but I didn't have any ranged options, outside of throwing my knife, which wasn't exactly a good idea considering it was my only weapon. My powers worked through my fists, but it was a lot more efficient to channel them through a weapon. Not sure why, but powers rarely made sense, even when they didn't come from interdimensional parasites.

My opponents on the other hand had powers meant for fighting at a range. I wasn't sure exactly how Shadow Stalkers powers worked, but she was clearly able to create constructs that could be fired at a range and Medusa's hair could clearly extend and retract at will, which meant that I'd have to deal with attacks from all directions, while being unable to launch meaningful counters of my own. The only up side was that most battles between In-births were fought as one on one duels.

The problem is that there was no rule about jumping in immediately after your friend went down.

That meant that, assuming I could beat whoever attacked first, I'd immediately have to fight the other and I was starting to get tired. I still had plenty of EXS left, breaking bones and piercing Vessels didn't take that much power and I hadn't needed to use much in the previous fights I'd been in tonight, but I also had not had much sleep lately and, again, had been fighting all night. In-births had more stamina than regular Humans, but I was starting to reach my limit.

It didn't help that I could already tell that these two were a lot stronger than the usual morons who hunted the Night.

"Alright, lets get this party st…" started Medusa, her hair erupting into a cloud of razor sharp blades.

However, before she could finish her sentence and attack, she was cut off as the ground erupted and a number of thick tree roots shot out, creating a thick barrier between us.

"Sorry kids, but I'm afraid that we'll have to interject here."

We all turned to see three figures emerge from the red fog that shrouded the Night. It was easy to recognize the three leaders of Bankikai thanks to their recent very public fight with a large group of E88 and ABB goons who had decided to start a fight very close to an inhabited area of the city. The three In-births had torn the two groups apart and Ogre and Zohar had impressed everyone by taking down Hookwolf and chasing off Oni Lee. True, Hookwolf had been freed by the Empire shortly after, but the pictures of the unconscious Nazi Cape laying in a pile of corroded, smashed blades with Ogre stood over him with his Gate in full view and shrouded in mist had done wonders for solidifying mans reputation.

The other two were less well known, but still easily recognizable for someone who was keeping an eye on the Cape scene in the Bay.

"The fuck?" growled Shadow Stalker, "What are you idiots doing here?"

"Well, I couldn't let a potential recruit get killed, could I?" asked Ogre as he stopped a short distance away.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Potential recruit?" I asked.

Ogre grinned and shrugged.

"Its worth asking if nothing else," he said, "Besides, even if you say no, I never was very good at letting people down."

He turned his attention back to the two Amnesia girls and smirked, cracking his knuckles loudly as purple smoke began to seep out of his knuckles.

"If you two really want a fight, I'd be happy to oblige," he said, "Otherwise, I suggest you leave."

Shadow Stalker and Medusa stared at him for a moment, then glanced at one another. After a moment, they seemed to come to an agreement and Medusa turned and started walking away as Shadow Stalker dispelled her crossbow.

"This isn't over," she growled.

"Fine by me," I said, "I'll fight you another Night, just not a school one."

Shadow Stalker gave an annoyed growl and marched after her partner with a dramatic swirl of her cloak. Once the two had vanished, Ogre and his companions relaxed and the big man turned to me.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yep, I'm perfectly fine," I said, "Thanks for the help. I'm not sure that I could have beaten them on my own."

Ogre tilted his head slightly.

"You didn't seem to have any trouble with them," he said, indicating to the pile of Amnesia bottom feeders.

"Those guys are idiots and close ranged fighters," I said, "Shadow Stalker and Medusa are neither. If I'd have fought them, I'd have had to close the distance and I highly doubt that either of them would have let me do that."

I scowled.

"I desperately need a ranged option."

"Or backup," said Ogre.

I frowned, but Ogre held up a hand before I could respond.

"No, don't answer," he said, "I can guess why your not interested in joining the Wards, leaving aside the fact your not a Parahuman. You want to make a difference, right? Actually do something about the scum that are poisoning the city, rather than just letting the status quo continue."

I twitched. He'd hit it right on the head. Ogre smiled slightly and held out a hand.

"Thats what we want to," he said, "I imagine you heard the same from whoever Amnesia sent to recruit you, but its the truth. Unlike some, I can still remember when this city was a decent place to live. I can also remember the hell that the Teeth and Empire brought before they tore each other apart."

He clenched his fist.

"I was powerless to do anything back then, but now I have the power to help, theres no way I won't do everything I can to make this city a safe place for my Daughter to live."

I blinked in surprise. Ogre had a daughter? That was...interesting. It also made his desire to actually do something to clean up the streets that much more believable. The question was, was it worth putting my faith in someone I knew was destined to die at some point in the not-so distant future?

"You don't have to give me your answer now," said Ogre, handing me a business card with the Bankikai symbol and a phone number printed on it, "Just think about the offer and give me your response when your ready. "Zohar, Strix, lets go."

The two silent women nodded and followed their boss back into the mists and out of the Night. I sighed and relaxed fully now that I couldn't sense anyone nearby I hadn't already beaten. I took one more look back at the pile of Amnesia goons I'd beaten up to make doubly sure that none of them would die, then started heading home, pausing only to remove my mask as I left the Night. The rest of my clothes were non-descript enough that I'd go unnoticed, even this late in the night.

As I made my way home, I thought over Ogres offer. I have to admit, it was rather tempting. There was a limit to what I could do alone and tonight had proven that, as I was, I was woefully underprepared to take on any opponent I couldn't get close to, although the latter could be remedied without much trouble. Getting hold of a gun in Brockton Bay was depressingly easy after all.

The main issue was that I knew that Bankikai was destined for a sticky end at some point in the future and, unlike with Worm, I had no real timeline to work with. For all I knew, Ogre could be dead by morning. It wasn't very likely since the Night was already in the process of ending as I had left, but I just didn't know.

On the other hand, me joining Bankikai could well prevent that future from ever coming to pass, either by preventing Roger and Zohar from getting whammied by the Abyss or helping Ogre kill Roger if it came to that. Plus, having some actual backup for a change would be nice and, unlike any of the other groups in the city, I genuinely believed Ogre when he said he wanted to make the city better. The look in his eyes, the tone of his voice, everything spoke of a man willing to do anything to make sure he succeeded in what he set out to do.

Then there were the more pragmatic reasons for joining up with a team. Solo Capes did not last very long unless they were uncommonly powerful or exceedingly passive. I was neither, not really. Sure, my power was impressive and could do a lot of damage, but that didn't mean that I couldn't be overwhelmed. In-birth were tough, but we were far from Alexandria level of durability. Plus, having backup would make getting my hands on useful equipment much easier.

I sighed as I stopped outside my house. As it stood, I'd probably be calling Ogre in the next couple of days. As much as I would have liked to stay solo, it simply wasn't possible and Bankikai was simply the best option for me. Mainly because the only other option that I would even consider was getting help from Fortuna and I had plenty of reasons not to want to rely on that little brat, of which the Cauldron, assuming it existed, was the least of it.

I shook my head hard, shoving the thoughts aside, before briefly flashing my eyes to make sure that no one was waiting to ambush me coming in, then scaled the side of the house and slithered through my bedroom window. Within half an hour, I was curled up in bed and dropping off into the depths of sleep.

* * *

You know how Winslow has a reputation, both on Bet and in fics, as being an absolute hellhole? Well, apparently in this world, that fact wasn't limited to the students and faculty. Even the building itself was a rotting shell, literally. In the process of cleaning up and decontaminating Taylors locker, the hazmat teams had ended up stumbling on asbestos insulation in the walls that should have been removed years ago. That had led to a school wide investigation that had quickly revealed that the entire place was utterly unsuitable for Human habitation, with issues that ranged from an outdated boiler that was on the verge of failing spectacularly, to toxic mold growing in the showers.

Needless to say, Blackwell and her staff were in a lot of trouble and Winslow had been closed indefinitely.

As a result of Winslow's closure, the students had to find other places to continue their education. Fortunately, the other schools in the district had stepped up and accepted those who didn't simply drop out or opt for homeschooling. There were more than those four mentioned in the story after all.

I, along with a lucky few who actually had the grades for it, had even been accepted into Arcadia, which was nice, but it did mean getting up earlier as it was a bit farther to go than Winslow. Fortunately, In-births can operate on much less sleep than normal Humans, so I was feeling perfectly fine, despite the late night I'd had.

* * *

I arrived at school a bit earlier than I would normally, mainly because the invitation said to so we could be given an entrance pack and get settled, and was mildly surprised to see a car drive up and disgorge a rather uncomfortable looking Taylor Hebert. Considering the mess her bullies made of her grades, I was a little surprised she got an invitation to Arcadia.

I wonder whether that had anything to do with her being a main character? What? It made as much sense as any other reason and this world was partly Anime style game.

I shoved those thoughts aside and headed over to where Taylor had just finished talking to the trucks driver and turned to face the school as said truck drove away. She looked about as comfortable as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs and pitbulls and nearly jumped out of her skin as she noticed my approach.

"Hey Taylor," I said, making sure to stop out of arms reach.

"Um, hi?" she said, looking even more uncomfortable, "Your...Noel, right? You got invited to?"

I decided against making a sarcastic quip.

"Yep," I said, "I suspect its because I originally had the grades to get in in the first place, but Dad decided that I should go to his old school, regardless of the fact that its now a shithole."

Taylor stared at me.

"Why would he do that?" she asked.

"Because the man is stubborn as a horse when he puts his mind to something," I said, "Doubly so if it involves doing something to annoy my mother…"

I shook my head.

"Leaving aside my issues and at risk of bringing up bad memories, are you OK?" I asked.

Taylor flinched and paled slightly.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," she said, "I wasn't in there for long and Panacea fixed me right up."

"Well thats something I guess," I said, "I just wish I could have done something to catch those stupid girls, but at least you won't have to worry about them here."

Taylor gave a slightly manic snort.

"I wish," she said, "Dad told me Emma got an invite to and knowing my luck, so did Sophia…"

I raised an eyebrow.

"This isn't Winslow," I said, "I highly doubt that the staff here will put up with those girls antics for long."

Taylor gave me a disbelieving look and I snorted.

"Fine, fine, but at least give the staff here a chance before you give up on them," I said, "Now come on, we're blocking the street."

I headed up towards the school with Taylor following on my heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya know what? I'm gonna end this here. I probably could do some more, but I can do the first day at Arcadia next chapter.
> 
> Is the whole thing with Winslow that likely? Possibly not, but considering how utterly useless the faculty seems to be, its far from impossible.
> 
> I had Sophia and Emma pegged as In-birth members of Amnesia right from the start. Sophia fits right in and its a lot easier to become an In-birth than it is to trigger a Trigger Event. I'd love some ideas for the names of their EXS powers and weapons if your up for it since mine are...kinda shit.
> 
> AU HOOOO! Wanna take a guess as to who Ogre's Daughter is? No, hes not Danny. I don't think I've ever actually seen a story thats done this with the character before, so it should be interesting to see the resulting changes.
> 
> And with that, I'm done. Huh, short AN this time. Whatever, until next time, don't forget to leave a review!


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